David Jalbert

Jalbert, David

 David Jalbert. Pianist, teacher, b Rimouski, Que, 3 Nov 1977; Diplôme d'études supérieures I (Conservatoire de musique du Québec) 1997, M MUS (Montreal) 1999, Artist Diploma (Glenn Gould) 2001, Artist Diploma (Juilliard) 2003. David Jalbert began playing the piano at age 4 with the encouragement of his father. At 21 he graduated from the Université de Montréal, where he studied with Marc Durand and received the Governor General's Gold Medal for academic excellence. He continued his studies at The Glenn Gould School with Durand, André Laplante, Leon Fleisher, and John Perry; and at The Juilliard School with Jerome Lowenthal. Other teachers have included Pauline Charron and Marilyn Engle.

Solo Performances

Referred to as a "young master" by John Corigliano, Jalbert is considered one of Canada's best up-and-coming concert pianists. As a soloist he has performed with nearly every major orchestra in Canada, including the CBC Radio Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (MSO), the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Orchestre métropolitain, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the Regina Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed internationally with the Bielefelder Philharmoniker and the National Symphony of Ireland. Jalbert performed as part of the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in 2003 and for the Women's Musical Club of Toronto in 2004. In 2007 he premiered Dinuk Wijeratne's Colour Study in Rupak Taal at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts as part of Music Toronto's recital series.

Collaborations

Jalbert has frequently performed, recorded, and toured with cellist Denise Djokic. The two have appeared together at the Phillips Collection and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, and at New York's Bargemusic. In 2002 Djokic and Jalbert were the subject of Seven Days, Seven Nights (Paul Kimball, director), a documentary film that followed them through a week-long tour of rural British Columbia. Jalbert is also a member of the piano trio Triple Forte with violinist Jasper Wood and cellist Yegor Dyachkov. Other collaborators have included Quatuor Alcan, Pentaèdre, Louis-Philippe Marsolais, violinists Rachel Barton Pine and Jonathan Crow, and pianists Anton Kuerti and Naida Cole.

Recordings

Jalbert and Djokic's critically acclaimed 2005 release, Folklore, garnered a Juno Award nomination for classical album of the year, and was named classical recording of the year at the 2006 East Coast Music Awards. Jalbert's recording of Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues was nominated for classical album of the year at the 2009 Junos. The album also received an Opus Award for recording of the year in the modern and contemporary category in 2009.

Prizes

Jalbert won first prize at the Concours Clermont-Pépin in 1996 and the MSO Competition in 1997, and second prize at the CBC Competition for Young Performers in 1999. In 2000 he became the first Canadian to reach the finals in the Dublin International Piano Competition, where he was awarded fourth prize. Jalbert has received two awards from the Canada Council for the Arts: the Sylva Gelber Foundation Award in 2001 and the Virginia Parker Prize in 2007. In 2009 Jalbert, along with Djokic, violinist Marc Djokic, and clarinetist Jean-François Normand, received an Opus Award from the Conseil québécois de la musique for concert of the year (regional).

In 2008 Jalbert became a faculty member at the University of Ottawa's School of Music.

Selected Discography

Corigliano & Rzewski: Ballads & Fantasies. 2003. Endeavour Classics END 1011

Folklore. Schumann - Vaughan Williams - Stravinsky. 2005. Denise Djokic cello. Endeavour Classics END 1013

Fauré: Complete Nocturnes. 2006. Endeavour Classics END 1014

The German Romantic Horn. 2006. Louis-Philippe Marsolais French horn. Oehms Classics OC 582

Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues. 2008. ATMA Classique ACD 22555

L'Héritage Beethoven. Beethoven - Czerny - Ries. 2009. Louis-Philippe Marsolais French horn. ATMA Classique ACD 22592